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This survey reviews the current state of the economic literature, assessing the impact of transport policies on growth, inclusion, and sustainability in a developing country context. The findings are summarized and methodologies are critically assessed, especially those dealing with endogeneity issues in empirical studies. The specific implementation challenges of transport policies in developing countries are discussed.

[EN] The present work consists of two distinct parts. The objective is to analyze if the two alternatives proposed improve on the current situation of the A-1515, between the link with the A-23 and the municipality of Rubielos de Mora (Teruel), therefore, each one of the aspects considered in this work are analyzed both in the current road as in the two alternative proposals. The first of the parties focuses on the analysis of the traffic and road safety, while the second part is on the environmental impact, that is to say, how are going to impact the proposed alternatives to the environment, to finally make an overall assessment of the two alternatives. Traffic analysis is done, taking as a starting point a data capacity manual made in the road of study and making use of related gauging stations is estimated the current daily average intensity and with a prognosis of the traffic is predicted traffic flow for subsequent years. Once the current IMD and years to come, analyzes the level of service and the capacity of each of the years considered. In relation to road safety is performed, always in line with the geometric design, a study of the speeds of operation with the objective of ensuring that the users traveling in safe conditions. It analyzes the consistency with the objective of determining if the path corresponds to the expectations of users and finally makes an estimate of accidents. In the second part of this work has been analyzed how it is going to affect every one of the alternatives to the environment. To do this we analyze the impacts each in relation to the existing surfaces and on the basis of an approach that associates a value to an impact taking into account various aspects, such as the extension or possibility to mitigate it, you get that alternative is the most harmful from an environmental point of view., [CA] El present treball consta de dues parts diferenciades. L'objectiu és analitzar si les dues alternatives proposades milloren la situació actual de la carretera A-1515, compresa entre l'enllaç amb l'A-23 i el municipi de Rubielos de Mora (Teruell), per tant, cada un dels aspectes considerats a al llarg d'aquest treball s'analitzaran tant a la carretera actual com en les dues alternatives proposades. La primera de les parts se centra en l'anàlisi del trànsit i la seguretat viària, mentre que la segona part tracta sobre l'impacte mediambiental, és a dir, com van a impactar les alternatives proposades al medi ambient, per finalment realitzar una valoració global de les dues alternatives. Referent al trànsit es realitza una anàlisi prenent com a dada de partida un aforament manual realitzat a la carretera d'estudi i fent ús d'estacions afins d'aforament s'estima la intensitat mitjana diària actual i mitjançant una prognosi del trànsit es prediu el flux de trànsit per anys posteriors. Un cop obtinguda la IMD actual i d'anys venidors, s'analitza el nivell de servei i la capacitat de cada un dels anys considerats. En relació a la seguretat viària es realitza, sempre d'acord amb el disseny geomètric, un estudi de les velocitats d'operació amb l'objectiu de garantir que els usuaris que circulin en condicions segures. Per això s'analitza la consistència amb l'objectiu de determinar si el traçat es correspon amb les expectatives dels usuaris i finalment es realitza una estimació d'accidents. A la segona part d'aquest treball s'ha analitzat com va a afectar cadascuna de les alternatives al medi ambient. Per a això s'analitzen els impactes que genera cadascuna en relació a les superfícies existents i mitjançant un criteri que associa un valor a un impacte tenint en compte diversos aspectes, com ara l'extensió o possibilitat de mitigar-lo, s'obté que alternativa és la més perjudicial des del punt de vista mediambiental., [ES] El presente trabajo consta de dos partes diferenciadas. El objetivo es analizar si las dos alternativas propuestas mejoran la situación actual de la carretera A-1515, comprendida entre el enlace con la A-23 y el municipio de Rubielos de Mora (Teruel), por tanto, cada uno de los aspectos considerados a lo largo de este trabajo se analizarán tanto en la carretera actual como en las dos alternativas propuestas. La primera de las partes se centra en el análisis del tráfico y la seguridad vial, mientras que la segunda parte trata sobre el impacto medioambiental, es decir, cómo van a impactar las alternativas propuestas al medioambiente, para finalmente realizar una valoración global de las dos alternativas. Referente al tráfico se realiza un análisis tomando como dato de partida un aforo manual realizado en la carretera de estudio y haciendo uso de estaciones afines de aforo se estima la intensidad media diaria actual y mediante una prognosis del tráfico se predice el flujo de tráfico para años posteriores. Una vez obtenida la IMD actual y de años venideros, se analiza el nivel de servicio y la capacidad de cada uno de los años considerados. En relación a la seguridad vial se realiza, siempre en consonancia con el diseño geométrico, un estudio de las velocidades de operación con el objetivo de garantizar que los usuarios que circulen en condiciones seguras. Para ello se analiza la consistencia con el objetivo de determinar si el trazado se corresponde con las expectativas de los usuarios y por último se realiza una estimación de accidentes. En la segunda parte de este trabajo se ha analizado como va a afectar cada una de las alternativas al medio ambiente. Para ello se analizan los impactos que genera cada una en relación a las superficies existentes y mediante un criterio que asocia un valor a un impacto teniendo en cuenta diversos aspectos, tales como la extensión o posibilidad de mitigarlo, se obtiene que alternativa es la más perjudicial desde el punto de vista medioambiental.

[ES] Este estudio tiene como objetivo analizar los problemas que presenta una carretera, identificando los que están relacionados con la seguridad vial. Teniendo en cuenta la problemática y los condicionantes existentes, se proponen medidas para mejorar la vía y las condiciones del tráfico. En el estudio se analiza una parte de la carretera CV-421, concretamente el tramo comprendido entre los PP.KK. 0+535 y 5+300 en los municipios de Turís y Godelleta (Valencia, España). En el análisis se obtienen parámetros geométricos, datos en visitas al tramo y aforos de tráfico. El objetivo del estudio es aplicar los conocimientos de las asignaturas ‘Caminos y Aeropuertos’ e ‘Ingeniería de Tráfico’, identificando incumplimientos normativos y presentando medidas para mejorar el trazado, la señalización y los sistemas de contención. El trabajo incluye una estimación económica de las propuestas de mejora., [CA] Este estudi té com a objectiu analitzar el problemes que presenta una carretera, identificant els que estan relacionats amb la seguretat viària. Tenint en compte la problemàtica i els condicionants existents, es proposen mesures per a millorar la via i les condicions del trànsit. En l’estudi s’analitza una part de la carretera CV-421, concretament el tram comprès entre els PP.KK. 0+535 y 5+300 en els municipis de Torís y Godelleta (València, Espanya). En l’anàlisi s’obtenen paràmetres geomètrics, dades en visites al tram y aforaments de trànsit. L’objectiu de l’estudi és aplicar els coneixements de les assignatures de ‘Camins i Aeroports’ i ‘Enginyeria de Trànsit’, indentificant incompliments normatius y presentant mesures per a millorar el traçat, la senyalització i els sistemes de contenció. El treball inclou una estimació econòmica de les propostes de millora., [EN] This study aims to analyze the problems that a road presents, identifying those that are related to road safety. Taking into account the existing problems and constraints, measures are proposed to improve road and traffic conditions. The study analyzes a part of the CV-421 highway, specifically the stretch between the kilometer markers 0+535 and 5+300 in the municipalities of Turís and Godelleta (Valencia, Spain). In the analysis we obtain geometric parameters, data on visits to the section and traffic gauges. The objective of the study is to apply the knowledge of the subjects of ‘Roads and Airports’ and ‘Traffic Engineering’, identifying normative breaches and presenting measures to improve the layout, signaling and containment systems. The work includes an economic estimate of improvement proposals.

The authors use different data sets to investigate the dependence of transport costs on geography and infrastructure. Infrastructure is an important determinant of transport costs, especially for landlocked countries. Analysis of bilateral trade data confirms the importance of infrastructure and gives an estimate of the elasticity of trade flows with respect to the trade cost factor of around-3. A deterioration of infrastructure from the median to the 75th percentile raises transport costs by 12 percentage points and reduces trade volumes by 28 percent. Analysis of African trade flows indicates that their relatively low level is largely due to poor infrastructure.

The LPI has provided valuable information for policy makers, traders, and other stakeholders, including researchers and academics, on the role of logistics for growth and the policies needed to support logistics in areas such as infrastructure planning, service provision, and crossborder trade and transport facilitation. The results of Connecting to Compete 2016 point to Germany as the best performing country, with an LPI score of 4.23, and Syria as the lowest, with a score of 1.60 (equivalent to 19 percent of Germany’s score on a scale from 1 to 5). The converging trend between the top and worst performers that appeared in the previous LPI surveys (2007, 2010, 2012, and 2014) seems to have slightly reversed. The average scores in each quintile reveal that the gap between the top 2 quintiles and the countries at the bottom in performance is widening again.

The objective of this study is to assess the impact of the East-West Highway improvement program on Georgia’s ability to access international markets. As highlighted extensively in the literature, improving transport infrastructure and the efficiency of the logistics sector can help countries gain competitiveness in international export markets, which can translate into faster economic growth and higher income. This study hypothesizes that investments in the EWH have reduced the cost of shipping Georgian goods to the rest of the world, and such reductions should be more significant for goods transported by road. To estimate the effect of cost reductions generated by improvements in the EWH, a gravity-type model in first-differences has been estimated. The results show that: (i) a 10 percent increase in the length of upgraded road network predicts a 1.1 percent increase in exports transported by road while no significant effect is estimated for exports on other transport modes (rail, sea, and air); (ii) the resulting increase in exports by road was reflected by a decrease in exports transported by sea; (iii) the effect is statistically and economically significant only for customs offices located along the EWH; (iv) only exports of time-sensitive products responded positively and significantly to improvements in the EWH during the 2006-2015 period; (v) upgrading the entire EWH is estimated to generate additional export revenues between USD 776 million and USD 1,466 million. It is important to note that the overall trade generating effect of the investment is expected to be somewhat lower as the results suggest some substitution between road and sea transport, but the overall impact is a significant boost to exports.

This study develops an end-use energy demand analysis model for Romania to project energy demand by sector and end-use for 2015-50. The study finds that Romania's energy demand in 2050 would be 34 percent higher than the level in 2013. The industry sector would be the largest final energy-consuming sector, surpassing the residential sector from 2025 onward. The services sector would exhibit the fastest growth of energy consumption in line with the expected structural change from manufacturing to services. Although population in the country is projected to drop by 7 percent in 2050 from the 2013 level, electricity demand would increase by 46 percent over the same period, because of increased household income and the expanded service sector, which is relatively electricity intensive. Still, per capita electricity consumption in Romania will be about half the European Union 28 average. At the end-use level, thermal processes in the industry sector, space heating in the residential and services sectors, and road transportation in the transport sector would be dominant throughout the study period. The study also shows that improvement of energy efficiency in the heating system would be the main channel to cut energy demand in the country.

This report responds to a request from the Government of Timor-Leste (GoTL) and Dr. Mari Alkatiri. The request was for World Bank assistance to collaborate on a range of studies relating to opportunities in the special economic zone, including community development, trade and competitiveness, and regional integration. The analysis builds on a situation analysis prepared by the Zona Especial de Economia Social de Mercado (ZEESM) authority in March 2014. The transfer of significant responsibility for Oecusse’s development to the ZEESM authority, reflects a political rapprochement and collaboration between Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao and Dr. Alkatiri. The report is in two volumes. Volume one presents an overview of Oecusse’s current state in chapter one with analysis of living standards, economic activity including trade, and current constraints. Chapter two analyzes Oecusse’s phased economic potential through a range of phase one development interventions focusing on agriculture, and considers the pre-requisites for developing an SEZ in Oecusse. Volume two contains more comprehensive background chapters with full analysis of living standards in chapter three, agriculture in chapter four, transport corridor in chapter five, and migration in chapter six.

This report responds to a request from the Government of Timor-Leste (GoTL) and Dr. Mari Alkatiri. The request was for World Bank assistance to collaborate on a range of studies relating to opportunities in the special economic zone, including community development, trade and competitiveness, and regional integration. The analysis builds on a situation analysis prepared by the Zona Especial de Economia Social de Mercado (ZEESM) authority in March 2014. The transfer of significant responsibility for Oecusse’s development to the ZEESM authority, reflects a political rapprochement and collaboration between Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao and Dr. Alkatiri. The report is in two volumes. Volume one presents an overview of Oecusse’s current state in chapter one with analysis of living standards, economic activity including trade, and current constraints. Chapter two analyzes Oecusse’s phased economic potential through a range of phase one development interventions focusing on agriculture, and considers the pre-requisites for developing an SEZ in Oecusse. Volume two contains more comprehensive background chapters with full analysis of living standards in chapter three, agriculture in chapter four, transport corridor in chapter five, and migration in chapter six.

This report explores the sectors that will be instrumental for positive CU impact and competitiveness in the medium term. The initial chapter analyzes the gaps and opportunities the Kyrgyz NQI presents for capturing benefits of access to the enlarged common market across sectors. The next three chapters take an in-depth look at three high-growth sectors and identify adaptation priorities and opportunities. Agriculture, services, and garments are a large and growing share of exports and are the sectors most likely to be transformed by accession to the CU and the increased tariffs to countries outside the EEU. Services added 56 percent to GDP in 2013, while agriculture contributed 18 percent, and manufacturing 16 percent. Exports in the garment sector were close to US$200 million in 2013, employing over 150,000 workers. The main findings of each chapter are summarized below followed by a summary of recommendations. This report is relevant to the Kyrgyz experience as it highlights important differences both in terms of regulations and technical requirements. The report highlights differences between the EU and CU regulatory systems in approaches to food safety and legislation, but it also analyzes the differences in infrastructure aspects of the NQI, such as testing laboratories and certification mechanisms between the EU and CU. The Customs Union approach is based on end-product compliance to a specific technical regulation or standard, whereas the European Union relies on preventive measures and minimizing risks associated with each process throughout the complete food chain. In the CU food control system, food control bodies verify that the end-product meets the required technical specifications established by the government; in the EU system, end-product attributes such as size, color, shape, smell, and taste are generally left to the marketplace to judge if they are acceptable. Importantly, the report pinpoints specific technical requirements for EU food safety that differ from the CU requirements (microbiological criteria for foodstuff, contaminants in food; maximum residue limits for residues of pesticides, and pharmacologically active substances).

This report seeks to shed light on the ways in which the services sector has contributed to Lao PDR’s competitiveness and integration into the global marketplace. It focuses on two complementary roles that the services sector plays: first, as an avenue for export diversification and growth and, second,by providing inputs into other productive sectors of the economy, such as the manufacturing sector. As economies grow, the importance of the services sector generally increases, but its role as an enabler of other sectors of the economy in moving up the value chain is frequently overlooked. However, the services sector is critical in raising competitiveness of these other sectors to boost growth and create better quality jobs. The main policy recommendations that emerge from this report are aimed at increasing competition in the services sector, reducing distortive regulations, and opening up the sector to foreign participation, building up skills, both at the individual and at the firm level, and investing in hard and soft infrastructure to promote the development of the sector.

This paper examines the effects of market integration on household consumption using data on seven food and two energy markets across South Sudan. The analysis reveals that markets in South Sudan are highly segmented. Price differences for narrowly defined products, across cities exceed in some cases 100 percent. In addition, price volatility increased substantially following the imposition of the trade restrictions with Sudan. This increase tends to hurt disproportionately the poor, who cannot smooth purchasing decisions over time because of liquidity constraints. Transportation costs explain almost half of the variation in food prices across space, and improving the quality of roads has a large potential to reduce prices in the most expensive towns. On the basis of this price effect, the simulations suggest that bringing all road quality across states to that of primary roads can yield a reduction in poverty from the rate of 51.7 percent in 2009 to between 42.8 and 46.9 percent. These estimates have to be interpreted as conservative, as they do not take into account the second-order effects of road construction from increased trade that will result from better road connectivity.

Regional integration in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is crucial for its further economic development and, more importantly, its structural transformation away from agriculture towards higher value-added activities, such as manufacturing and services. Yet there are many paths towards greater integration, some of which are easier than others. In order to gain insights into how regional integration is occurring in SSA, determine impediments to it, and develop recommendations for how the World Bank and other development agencies can help further facilitate it, the World Bank commissioned a set of political economy of regional integration studies covering sector analyses of agriculture, financial services, professional services, trade facilitation, and transport. This report summarizes the findings from the sector studies and suggests recommendations for further efforts in these areas by the World Bank and other development agencies. In a comparative context, the findings of the studies suggest cautious optimism for regional integration efforts in sub-Saharan Africa. Economic integration is more likely to succeed when it occurs alongside regional attempts at improving political stability and or developing joint infrastructure.

As a small economy, Moldova’s growth and development prospects are closely related to its performance in international and regional markets. In this report the authors have looked at the export performance and competitiveness of the Moldovan economy. This report provides an overview of Moldova’s trade competitiveness. Its objectives are twofold: (i) to present a comprehensive analysis of Moldova’s recent trade performance and (ii) to identify policy measures and interventions that can enhance the competitiveness of Moldova’s export firms and the value added of their exports. The report is divided into two main parts. Part one contains an exports outcome analysis. It assesses export performance along four dimensions that contribute to form a comprehensive picture of the sustainable competitiveness of the export sector, including (i) the level, growth, and market share performance of existing exports (the “intensive margin”); (ii) diversification of products and markets (the “extensive margin”); (iii) the quality and sophistication of exports (the “quality” margin); and (iv) the survival of export flows (the “sustainability margin”). Part two investigates constraints on Moldova’s competitiveness, focusing specifically on a series of supply-side factors, such as the role of backbone and input services and utilities, and access to finance; and the business environment, particularly government regulations affecting trade and governance and institutional quality. The rest of the report is structured as follows: Section two examines overall trends in trade flows, including the growth of exports and imports, the degree of trade openness, and the recent evolution in foreign direct investment flows. In Section three, the authors concentrate on export outcomes, analyzing the sectoral composition, the growth orientation, and degree of diversification of Moldovan exports. The authors also analyze the evolution in the quality and sophistication of exports and the survival of export relationships in different markets and sectors. In the second part of the report, the authors look at productivity dynamics of Moldovan firms in comparative perspective, and then investigate the impact of access to finance, backbone services, trade and customs regulations, and corruption on firm productivity. The authors conclude this report with policy recommendations to improve Moldova's export competitiveness and increase the product and market scope, quality, and sophistication of its export basket.

In considering the prospects for expanding non-commodities exports, the SACU region faces a global environment that has changed markedly over the past two decades. First, trade is increasingly shifting away from high income countries and toward developing countries. Second and perhaps most importantly, is the increasing importance of or ‘global production networks’ or ‘global value chains’ (GVCs). With wages rising rapidly in China and other places where GVC-oriented trade is concentrated, parts of these value chains are migrating to new global locations. Some estimates indicate that over the next generation 85 million manufacturing jobs will migrate from coastal China, and Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to be a major beneficiary. The SACU region, with its abundance of natural capital and surplus labor, along with a relatively high quality infrastructure and institutional environment, should be in a good position to attract investment and create a ‘factory Southern Africa’. Beyond assembly manufacturing that is typical of GVCs (e.g. apparel, electronics, automotive), the region should also be well-placed to compete as a location for value-addition to agricultural and mineral commodities (‘beneficiation’). Both types of investment would not only drive exports and have the potential to create significant employment, but also support upgrading by accessing global technologies and knowledge. And with growing markets across Africa, a ‘factory Southern Africa’ might increasingly be sustainable in the regional context.

In 2012, the World Bank signed five agreements with MRDPA for advisory services, out of which one relates to the growth poles policy and to its improvement for the programming period 2014-2020. This agreement has three components: 1) an analysis of the growth poles policy, 2) energy efficiency studies for each growth pole; and 3) a review of the Integrated Development Plans prepared by the growth poles for the period 2007-2013. In this context, South Muntenia Regional Development Agency, through the coordinator of Ploiești Growth Pole, requested the World Bank, under a project funded by ERDF through the Technical Assistance Operational Program 2007-2013, to support the Growth Pole in implementing the recommendations stemming from the previous analysis with: 1) updating the Integrated Development Plan for 2014-2020; and 2) proposing an improved institutional framework for coordinating the planning, implementation and monitoring of projects under this plan. The current document of the Integrated Development Plan belonging to Ploiești Growth Pole was developed during the period 2008-2009 and approved and submitted to South Muntenia RDA in April 2010. It contains a total number of 93 projects with a total value of RON 5,136,143,583.91, out of which 762,515,322.81 are EU funds, and the remainder comes from the national budget and the beneficiaries’ own contribution. In the process of updating the plan, the implementation status of these projects will be studied further, while attention will be also given to the unimplemented projects in order to see whether they will be included in the documentation, depending on their response to the new development conditions of the growth pole.

Transport and logistics infrastructure is a critical determinant of the competitiveness of a country's producers and exporters. Well-functioning transport and logistics infrastructure relies not just on hardware, but critically on the operating environment that emerges from the interaction between private sector operators; national policies and regulatory regimes; and, in many countries, state-owned owners and operators of core infrastructure. This paper looks at the case of South Africa, where constraints in access, pricing, reliability, and network interfaces, particularly in the port and rail network, are eroding the competitiveness of South African exporters. The paper draws on interviews with a wide range of exporters along with secondary research to examine South Africa's port and rail network, and explores the underlying factors contributing to these constraints, including chronic underinvestment, an inadequate regulatory environment, insufficient private sector participation, and weak regional integration. The paper concludes with a review of the reforms needed to deliver a more broadly accessible and competitive rail and port sector based on international case examples. It highlights the need for institutional reforms to promote competitive pricing; private sector participation to increase investment and improve service delivery; information and coordination to address market failures and improve access; and cooperation to improve intermodal, interregional, and institutional interfaces.

The countries comprising the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) are currently not very integrated into global value chains (GVCs), potentially missing out on important development opportunities. Accordingly, we explore high level options for promoting their integration. Given East Asia’s spectacular success with integrating into GVCs, we first assess the probability that SACU can copy their flying geese pattern. That was initiated by Japanese multinational corporations (MNCs) investing in successive East Asian countries thereby becoming the lead geese, to be joined subsequently by MNCs from other countries. We argue that the conditions for pursuing a flying geese approach are difficult to replicate in SACU. Therefore, we proffer and explore the proposition that South Africa could serve as the gateway for harnessing MNC geese flying from third countries into the SACU region, in time propelling regional development through knowledge and investment spillovers, and serving as a conduit into GVCs. However, there may be substantial obstacles to deepening this integration potential. Other African gateways are emerging as alternatives to South Africa. And some SACU governments would prefer to build regional value chains (RVCs) rather than prioritize GVC integration. We argue that RVCs are complements to GVCs. SACU countries, excluding South Africa, may not attract many world leading MNCs since their markets are small, but could attract smaller regional players from South Africa or elsewhere. Thus building RVCs in the short run could assist with integration into GVCs in the longer run. Overall, this requires harnessing South African and MNC geese to the South African gateway, in a mutually complementary strategy.

China Railways Corporation (CRC) is considering new ways to attract capital to support the strategic development of the railway sector. Currently, government is the predominant equity financier, with debt being supplied by domestic bank credits and limited amounts borrowed from International Financial Institutions such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank. Considering its high level of accumulated debt and liabilities (RMB 3.7 trillion on an asset base of 5.7 trillion), CRC wishes to explore equity investment mechanisms, to increase cash flow from its core and non-core activities, and to use different financing channels as a way to leverage the value of its assets and introduce market-based business models to the sector. CRC is seeking to attract investment from both the private sector and from public sources such as local governments and state owned enterprises. It refers to these sources of capital as ‘social capital.’ This report examines how companies in China and railways in seven other countries, China, France, India, Japan, Poland, Russia, United Kingdom, United States, have attracted capital and made capital budgeting decisions to support their strategic development.

Cross border value chains are increasingly seen as critical for export growth, providing the conduit for more than half of developing countries exports in value-added terms. However, Africa’s contribution to cross border value chains remains low, at 1.5 percent. And African countries’ limited participation in value chains is in the lower-value, lower end stages of production. Reasons for this limited integration include infrastructure, thick borders, geographical remoteness, size, fragmentation, and the limited financial capacities and service industries of African countries.

In the 22 years between 1992 and 2014 Vietnam attained the remarkable average annual rate of economic growth of 6.9 percent. However, the sources of growth that underpinned much of this period of economic transformation ready availability of labor and a structural shift of national production from subsistence agriculture to industry and services are gradually being depleted and cannot be sustained indefinitely. Given that a substantial share of Vietnam’s growth has been associated with the expansion of manufacturing linked to international trade, more competitive freight logistics which are the backbone of import-export activity should be among those levers. This report aims to compile the key lessons that have been learned by other countries in setting up platforms for direct dialogue between public sector agencies and private sector freight stakeholders at the planning and policy making level. This experience yields options for Vietnam to strengthen its own approaches to public private and public policy dialogue in logistics. Chapter one gives background and current situation. Chapter two briefly summarizes the current state of private sector involvement in the public sector functions of management and oversight of Vietnam’s logistics industry. Chapter three draws lessons from a limited number of relevant countries where governments have instituted institutional mechanisms for private sector engagement and inter-agency collaboration in logistics and transport planning and policy making. Chapter four offers recommendations for the Government of Vietnam (GoV) towards realistically implementing and ultimately mainstreaming robust private sector engagement and inter-agency collaboration in logistics. Chapter five presents the findings of a recent World Bank- Ministry of Transport (MoT) survey of Vietnam-based private sector freight stakeholders on the subject of private sector engagement in the planning and policy making processes of government. Chapter six concludes by offering examples of the kinds of good public sector logistics management practices that the GoV can pursue if it availed itself of the collaborative mechanisms recommended by this report.

This document details the scope and the main elements of the Country Partnership Framework (CPF) with the Republic of Botswana for FY16-20. The previous Country Partnership Strategy (CPS), considered by the Board on May 21, 2009 and completed in 2013 has built a solid foundation to design the new World Bank Group (WBG) program. The CPF supports the government’s ongoing National Development Plan (NDP10) that has recently been extended until 2017. It also reviews the new NDP11 now under preparation. The Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) was completed after Botswana’s General Elections in October 2014. The SCD drew on all available research and benefited greatly from the series of stakeholder consultations conducted in the country between March and September, 2014. The report was well received by the national authorities and sent for information to the Board on March 31, 2015. The SCD identified the following priority development challenges: (a) despite rapidly declining poverty, low job creation keeps inequality extremely high; (b) with the weakening of traditional growth drivers, a new growth model is needed that is jobs-intensive, export-oriented, and private sector-driven; (c) despite broad and well-intentioned investment, inclusion barriers remain; (d) sustainability is threatened as resource vulnerability challenges long-term growth and inclusion.

The Delhi Metro (DM) is a mass rapid transit system serving the National Capital Region of India. It is also the world’s first rail project to earn carbon credits under the Clean Development Mechanism of the United Nations for reductions in CO2 emissions. Did the DM also lead to localized reduction in three transportation source pollutants? Looking at the period 2004–2006, one of the larger rail extensions of the DM led to a 34 percent reduction in localized CO at a major traffic intersection in the city. Results for NO2 are also suggestive of a decline, while those for PM25 are inconclusive due to missing data. These impacts of pollutant reductions are for the short run. A complete accounting of all long run costs and benefits should be done before building capital intensive metro rail projects.

Over the last century, the urban spatial structure of cities has transformed dramatically from the traditional monocentric configuration to varying forms of decentralized organization. This paper reviews the theory and empirical evidence to understand the urban morphology of jobs and land use within a city. This survey highlights four broad insights: (i) The evolution of monocentric to polycentric centers has been accompanied by structural changes in the city. (ii) The internal geography of a city is an outcome of the trade-off between the pull from agglomeration economies and the push from congestion. (iii) The presence of externalities implies that the equilibrium spatial organization achieved by profit-maximizing firms may not necessarily be optimal. This justifies the role of public policy in addressing the associated market failures. (iv) The productive edge and competitiveness of a city can be enhanced by introducing policies that increase the overall connectivity to take advantage of economic opportunities across the metropolitan area. The survey also puts together a wide range of policy instruments that are useful in closing the gap between equilibrium urban spatial structure and the optimal outcome.

Policy makers are often confronted with a myriad of factors in the investment decision-making process. This issue is particularly acute in infrastructure investment decisions, as these often involve significant financial resources and lock-in technologies. In regions and countries where the infrastructure access gap is large and pubic budgets severely constrained, the importance of considering the different facets of the decision-making process becomes even more relevant. This paper discusses the trade-offs policy makers confront when attempting to prioritize infrastructure investments, in particular with regard to economic growth and welfare, and proposes a methodological framework for prioritizing infrastructure projects and portfolios that holistically equates such trade-offs, among others. The analysis suggests that it is not desirable to have a single methodology, providing a single ranking of infrastructure investments, because of the complexities of infrastructure investments. Rather, a multidisciplinary approach should be taken. Decision makers will also need to account for factors that are often not easily measured. While having techniques that enable logical frameworks in the decision-making process of establishing priorities is highly desirable, they are no substitute for consensus building and political negotiations.

The trade facilitation facility (TFF) was launched to help low-income countries improve their competitiveness by reducing the costs of engaging in international trade, thus supporting their efforts to reduce poverty and achieve the millennium development goals. This report summarizes the outcomes of the TFF between its establishment in 2009 and its end in 2015. The report highlights and reviews the accomplishments and lessons learned of TFF; it also discusses and reflects the perspective of task team leaders and relevant World Bank Group officials on the Bank Group’s continuing work in the trade facilitation sphere. The report presents results of TFF-funded activities and programs managed by staff from a large cross section of Bank Group sectors, including transport, agriculture, governance (customs), international trade, and private sector development. The report is organized as follows: chapter one give introduction. Chapter two provides an overview of the TFF portfolio. Chapter three looks at TFF as enabler of deepening regional integration, highlighting some of the facility’s accomplishments from a geographic and thematic perspective, particularly the extent to which TFF complemented Bank infrastructure operations and nurtured progress on trade facilitation instruments that countries and regional economic communities (RECs) have adopted but failed to implement. Chapter four, expanding thematic insights, addresses conceptual themes in trade facilitation. Chapter five, conclusions and contributions, sums up the areas in which TFF has contributed to moving the regional and multilateral trade facilitation agenda.

[EN] This study is based on the road variant CV-1990 in its way to the village of Figueroles, Castellon. Specifically, the traffic analysis has been made taking into account information collected by a manual forum. Therefore, it has been made a calculus of the level of service at the future road considering the percentage of vehicles that would pass through it, compared with the current traffic. Due to the variability of this percentage it has been made an analysis of the sensibility with the aim of knowing the fiability of the previus data and the one that has been obtained. Furthermore, it has been mandatory at the analysis to include road safety into the new process design of the road section, reason why it has been studied the consistency. With that purpose it has been used methods based on the operating speed. Moreover, it has been studied the stopping sight distance and it has been made the appropiate treatment of the road borders at the new one. All this work has been made with the target of reaching a optimum road safety level, considering the economic, technical and enviromental limitation., [CA] El present treball basa el seu estudi en la variant de la carretera CV-190 al seu pas pel municipi de Figueroles, a la província de Castelló. Concretament s'ha realitzat un anàlisi del trànsit a partir de la presa de dades d'un aforo manual. Aleshores, s'ha procedit al càlcul del nivell de servei de la futura variant prestant especial atenció al percentatge de vehicles que serien usuaris d'aquesta respecte del tràfic actual. Degut a la variabilitat d'aquest percentatge s'ha realitzat un anàlisi de sensibilitat amb la finalitat de conèixer la fiabilitat de les dades de partida i, per tant, dels resultats obtinguts. Per altre costat, s'ha considerat essencial incloure la seguretat vial en el procés de disseny del nou traçat, raó per la qual s'ha estudiat la consistència seguint un procés iteratiu fins aplegar al disseny geomètric definitiu, per a la qual cosa han sigut necessaris mètodes basats en la velocitat d'operació. A mes a mes, s'ha estudiat la visibilitat de parada disponible i s'ha realitzat el corresponent tractament dels marges de la nova via amb l'objectiu d'aplegar a un nivell de seguretat el més òptim possible dins del límits econòmics, tècnics i mediambientals., [ES] El presente trabajo basa su estudio en la variante de la carretera CV-190 a su paso por el municipio de Figueroles, en la provincia de Castellón. Concretamente, se ha realizado un análisis del tráfico a partir de la toma de datos llevada a cabo en un aforo manual. Así pues, se ha procedido al cálculo del nivel de servicio de la futura variante prestando especial atención al porcentaje de vehículos que serían usuarios de ésta respecto del tráfico actual. Debido a la variabilidad de este porcentaje se ha realizado un análisis de sensibilidad con el fin de conocer la fiabilidad de los datos de partida y, por ende, de los resultados obtenidos. Por otro lado, se ha considerado esencial incluir la seguridad vial en el proceso de diseño del nuevo trazado, razón por la cual se ha estudiado la consistencia siguiendo un proceso iterativo hasta alcanzar el diseño geométrico definitivo. Para tal fin se han empleado métodos basados en la velocidad de operación. Además, se ha estudiado la visibilidad de parada disponible y se ha realizado el correspondiente tratamiento de los márgenes de la nueva vía con el objetivo de alcanzar un nivel de seguridad lo más óptimo posible dentro de las limites económicos, técnicos y medioambientales.

[EN] This TFG analyzes traffic and road safety of a new road on the CV-190 at Figueroles (Castellón), [CA] Aquest TFG analitza el trànsit i la seguretat viaria d'una nova variant a la CV-190 al seu pas per Figueroles (Castelló), [ES] Este TFG analiza el tráfico y la seguridad vial de una nueva variante en la CV-190 a su paso por Figueroles (Castellón)

In an effort to further develop the South East Europe transport observatory (SEETO) comprehensive network, integrate it in the European Union’s (EU) Trans-European transport (TEN-T) network and strengthen the underlying transport planning systems, a grant was awarded by the Western Balkans infrastructure framework (WBIF) for the update of the regional Balkans infrastructure study (REBIS). The motivation for the update was the fact that since the completion of REBIS in 2003, there had been no review or update of the study’s projections and recommendations that will in turn enable an informed assessment and updating of the regional priorities for investment in the SEETO comprehensive network. The main objective of the REBIS update was to develop a priority action plan for enhancing the efficiency of the SEETO comprehensive network. The action plan identifies priority physical investments as well as non-physical improvements including regulatory, institutional, and managerial changes required to reduce impediments to the efficient performance of the network. The focus of the final report is the assessment of the 2030 traffic projections under low and moderate and moderate and high economic growth scenarios against the capacity of the network under the do-nothing scenario and the full SEETO scenario and on the development of the priority action plan. The report is organized as follows: section one gives introduction .Section two presents a brief assessment of the 2003 REBIS traffic projections against reported counts. Section three presents key non-physical impediments to transport and trade facilitation, as well as the costs and benefits associated with their alleviation. Section four presents the 2030 traffic projections for both the low and moderate and moderate and high economic growth scenarios. Section five presents the results of the capacity assessment of the existing and planned networks to handle the projected traffic. Section six presents the methodology used in the preliminary economic efficiency analysis for assessing the physical interventions and the results, while section seven presents the priority action plan. Section eight provides concluding comments.

According to the latest census of 2011, the urbanization level in India has increased from 27.8 percent in 2001 to 31.2 percent in 2011, and for the first time, the absolute increase in urban population exceeded the increase in rural population. India has different administrative arrangements for rural and urban areas, which are based on the 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution of India respectively. Since the census towns (CTs) continue to be governed by rural administrative arrangements this situation raises an additional set of questions, in addition to the nature of economic transformation, related to the trade-offs-between rural and urban status. The report shall try and find answers to the following questions: (a) how does their governance affect the settlements economically and spatially?; (b) what underpins the economic dynamics of these settlements?; and (c) what are the drivers of change in land use and what relationships, if any, are there between agglomeration of settlements and economic and social and governance processes? The report is organized into two main parts. The first part provides a reading of the existing literature on small towns along the three main axis of research: governance, employment, and spatial change. It also provides a detailed rationale for the choice of sites and expands on the methodology chosen. The second part constitutes of four sections: (i) the first considers the CT as a liminal notion, enabling to unpack ones reading of urbanization; (ii) the second is concerned with the shift towards non-farm employment, the reality (or not) of sectoral differentiation in CTs, and the analysis of the new types of jobs existing in the towns; (iii) the third is concerned with the existing debates and practices around the idea that some CTs should become statutory towns; and (iv) the fourth looks at the various urban services and attempts to assess which variations (rural and urban; state) explain differences in services.

This study was conceived on the basis of a request by Ukraine’s Ministry of Agricultural Policies and Food (MoAPF). In 2013, the MoAPF explored the World Bank’s interest for investing in grain hoppers, following a deficit of hoppers and concerns about related difficulties for grain transport. In response, the World Bank secured resources from the Multi Donor Trust Fund for Trade and Development (TF016693) to carry out a review of grain logistics in Ukraine in order to better understand the challenges facing the sector. The objectives of this report are to assess the functioning of the grain logistics system, identify bottlenecks and put forward practical recommendations for investments and reform. Research points to five key drivers of current high logistics costs: (i) lack of regulatory clarity and sub-optimal management of public assets that create barriers to private investments; (ii) underutilization of river transport, (iii) underinvestment in rail transport; (iv) inefficiencies in storage management, and (v) excessive use of road transport. However, there are two important limitations of the report that should be taken into account. First, the ongoing crisis remains a source of uncertainty. It has so far had limited impact on grain production and logistics, yet access to finance has become more difficult and other impacts might arise in the future. Second, there are two areas that the report does not address: customs and ports. Both are important elements of logistics costs and deserve a comprehensive analysis in the future.

Regulatory frameworks on logistics regulations are often opaque, especially in developing countries, because of the complex nature of logistics services. World Bank client countries have faced difficulty finding the issues that hinder them from improving logistics competence. Therefore, it is beneficial to understand how the logistics service industry is regulated and what should be addressed in building the regulatory framework to improve logistics competence. This note proposes questions to be addressed for beneficial regulations by reviewing existing logistics service regulations in 14 countries, particularly regulations for the freight forwarding industry. These questions will help in assessing a regulatory framework and identifying regulatory weaknesses. This note suggests that the regulatory framework should take into consideration national recognition of freight forwarding business, an institutional arrangement with clear division of responsibility among stakeholders, and streamlined but flexible regulations adapted to the country context.

Romania faces today the critical need to enhance the coordination of public investment programs and projects in order to ‘do more with less,’ maximizing development impact given limited financial resources available. In this context, ‘value for money’ is the key guiding principle of public investments, making this final report is both critically important and timely. Romania’s preparations for the 2014-2020 EU programming period are in full swing, with multiple operational programs recently approved. In parallel, the Government is working on revamping instruments financed entirely from the state budget. The core focus is on the National Local Development Program (PNDL), the main state-budget-funded investment program for local infrastructure development, though findings and recommendations may be extrapolated to other state-budget-funded instruments (e.g., the Environment Fund) and, indeed, as decentralization and regionalization may evolve in the future, subnational governments may also apply the lessons of this work. The main goal of this work is to recommend and facilitate the adoption of prioritization and selection criteria that enhance coordination at the level of infrastructure programs and the projects they finance.

The objective of this study was to assess the economy wide indirect benefits of investments in the East West highway (EWH). This study has used a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, which simulates indirect benefits associated with the completion of the upgraded road corridor. The transmission channel modeled is the reduction in transportation costs - reduction in vehicle operating costs, and time savings - resulting from the investments in the EWH. A CGE model is a simultaneous equation system that consists of equations representing various economic relationships for different economic agents, such as producers and households. CGE models are commonly used by countries and international financial institutions to simulate policy interventions to determine economy-wide impacts. This study involved modifying the existing social accounting matrix (SAM) and CGE model in order to carry out simulations to answer the question of economy wide impacts of the EWH investments, including impacts on real gross domestic product (GDP) growth, jobs, and trade, as well as impacts on households disaggregated by income. It aims to answer the following questions: how will the EWH lower the transportation costs for producers of goods and services?; what are the economy wide impacts of the EWH on employment, real GDP growth, trade, and household income?; and can the EWH help bridge the existing economic divide between rural and urban areas in Georgia? The study is aims to simulate quantitatively how the EWH as a large-scale infrastructure investment program can bring significant stimulus to foster economic growth and welfare in Georgia.

Cambodias rice exports are on a steep upward trajectory, benefiting from import duty preferences and new investments in rice mills and polishing factories. Cambodia’s major export competitors are Thailand and Vietnam. Thailand is a main competitor for fragrant rice, exporting itself ca 2.65 million tons of aromatic rice (including brokens) in 2010/2011. Vietnam is the principal competitor for the nonaromatic white rice markets such as the Philippines and Indonesia. Pakistan and Burma are competing with Cambodia for low-grade white rice markets mainly in Africa. The government needs to intensify its export facilitation efforts to increase its rice exports. Cambodia has reduced its milling costs but more needs to be done to improve competitiveness of its rice export. The capacity of Cambodia’s logistics system from mills to ports is inadequate to accommodate large-scale volumes. All of Cambodia’s rice exports are shipped in containers from Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville ports. Unless the government obtains a transit access to Saigon Port via the Mekong River for un-containerized milled rice, it is unlikely that Cambodia will export even 500,000 tons by 2015.

Cities are vulnerable to many types of shocks and stresses, including natural hazards like storms and sea level rise, but also man-made ones like economic transformation and rapid urbanization. These shocks and stresses have the potential to bring cities to a halt and reverse years of socio-economic development gains. Cities that are to grow and thrive in the future must take steps to address these shocks and stresses. Simply put, a resilient city is one that can adapt to these types of changing conditions and withstand shocks while still providing essential services to its residents. A resilient city can keep moving toward its long-term goals despite the challenges it meets along the way. In February 2015, a team of specialists from the World Bank Group worked with government officials, experts and stakeholders in Addis Ababa to identify the priority actions and investments that will enhance the city’s resilience to these current and future challenges. They explored options to transform planned or aspirational projects into initiatives that will also enhance the city’s resilience. As the largest city in Ethiopia and one of the fastest growing cities in Africa, Addis Ababa plays an important role in promoting the well-being of the country and economic prosperity in the region. For Addis Ababa, efforts to promote greater resilience must be closely aligned with the city’s vision to be a safe and livable city, ensure the national goal of becoming a middle-income country by 2025, and become Africa’s diplomatic capital.

In May 2005, the Bank adopted a new policy and new procedures on Additional Financing (OP/BP13.20) for investment lending, replacing the previous policy on supplemental financing. This policywas later revised in March 2012. This learning product assesses the performance of the AdditionalFinancing (AF) operations approved since then and draws lessons from their implementationexperience. The assessment focuses on AF in projects of the Transport and Information andCommunication Technology (ICT) Global Practice (GP). This was selected as the first batch ofoperations to review because they represent a large share in lending volume, as well as the fact that there is an existing AF study conducted by the former Transport Anchor which this review coulduse to verify the AF portfolio. This note aims to enhance the understanding of the way it has been used and how it has affected the project outcomes, through reviewing a subset of the AF portfolio for which the relevant data was readily available. The review notes the limitation of the small sample. More areas could be investigated when the data of more projects become available.

This report argues that urbanization brings significant opportunities for both rural and urban areas and that Burundi needs to prioritize issues of economic growth and job creation. Based on a diagnostic evaluation of the current urbanization and spatial growth, GDP, and job potential, the report highlights the importance of prioritizing policies and investments to address deficiencies in Burundi urbanization. These remedial actions will help prepare Burundi for coming urban growth and help leverage agglomeration effects, minimize negative externalities associated with rapid urbanization, and potentially reap the demographic dividend of this transition. Getting urbanization right will need to be associated with targeted implementation strategies for growth in the agribusiness and tourism sectors. A rapid move to cities is a central element of Burundi development strategy, including an increase in the urbanization rate from 11 percent to 40 percent by 2025. Burundi vision 2025 aims to aims to promote urbanization via rural-urban migration, freeing arable land, providing nonagricultural urban employment opportunities, and in turn, reducing the risks for social conflict and economic fragility. This report shows that while the Vision 2025 target of rate 40 percent is unrealistic, Burundi urbanization rate may already be higher than expected due to limitations in the current urban classification and the agglomeration of households along major transport corridors. This uncertainty further underlines the need for government to address the key issues that will affect whether Burundi will achieve effective urbanization or not.

The country partnership framework (CPF) for Azerbaijan covering the period FY2016-20, sets out the World Bank Group (WBG) support to the country on its path toward a sustainable, inclusive, and private sector-led growth underpinned by a diversified asset base. The country’s strategic goals are laid out in its development strategy - Azerbaijan 2020: vision for the future and other strategic documents that aim at reducing Azerbaijan’s dependence on oil and gas revenues and strengthening its resilience to external shocks through investments into diversified human capital, physical infrastructure, and stronger institutions. The CPF builds on the WBG systematic country diagnostic (SCD) for Azerbaijan and aligns its objectives with the constraints and priorities identified in the SCD. Over the past decade, Azerbaijan has made remarkable progress toward reducing poverty and boosting shared prosperity. In response to the emerging challenges and the mounting depreciation pressures, the government devalued the national currency and committed to fiscal consolidation. The CPF takes into account the government’s intention to optimize the external borrowing over the medium term as part of the ongoing effort to maintain fiscal sustainability. The CPF lending program will help Azerbaijan in meeting its development objectives through engagement in priority areas where the country’s ownership is strong, where the WBG has a comparative advantage and where the potential impact on the WBG twin goals is substantial. The CPF will address the SCD connectivity agenda through investments into the development of the county’s transport and transit corridors as well as improvement of local infrastructure at the community level. The CPF results are grouped around two focus areas and eight objectives that aim at improved public sector management and service delivery, and enhanced economic competitiveness.

Freight forwarders play a key role in moving goods across international borders. They arrange transport, oversee customs clearance on behalf of their clients, and more generally troubleshoot issues that arise while goods are in transit. This paper reports the results from a survey of 153 freight forwarding firms in Serbia. Respondents report on firm characteristics, operational choices, and conditions at the border posts and terminals where imported goods are cleared for release. One key purpose of the study is to investigate operational trade-offs between time and cost that arise when import shipments are in transit. In three of four hypotheticals, respondents suggest that money savings dominate time savings. Responses regarding real operational decisions such as route choices reinforce this finding. Respondents also reported penalty rates for late delivery of import shipments as well as the value of a typical import shipment. From these responses, it is estimated that the contracted value of one additional (unexpected) day of delivery time in Serbia appears to be approximately 1 percent of the value of the underlying shipment.

In 2010, the Municipality of Cuenca, through its environmental management commission (EMC), and the World Bank, through the environment and natural resources department, started a collaboration targeted towards strengthening EMC’s capacity to better manage Cuenca’s environmental assets and to provide EMC with hard evidence and data that will serve as departing point for decision-makers towards the formulation of public policy. Two main areas of focus were chosen: (i) costs of environmental degradation for Cuenca; and (ii) climate change impacts and resilience measures for Cuenca. This report describes the findings of the first area of focus. This report tries to capture the main results and to describe the assumptions and input data utilized, through a detailed step-by-step description of an internationally-accepted and validated methodology, an explanation of input data needs, equations used, assumptions made, and alternative calculation streams; and through the demonstration of this methodology as it is applied to the real case of air pollution in Cuenca. Analyses about the cost of environmental degradation are often used as an environmental priority-setting tool, because it gives the estimated socio-economic costs of environmental degradation (air pollution, inadequate water supply, sanitation, hygiene, and others). In this report, the methodology was used only for air pollution; similar studies can be replicated for other areas in order to have a full description of the different sources of pollution and the subsequent costs that Cuenca is subject to. Economic analysis (cost-benefit analysis) can be applied as a useful tool to prioritize among these interventions options with respect to their efficiency and cost effectiveness. Some policy reforms may also require to understand the political economy of reforms, for example, when taxi technology or bus technology of private firms is to be changed.

Firms normally keep certain inventories, including raw materials, work-in-progress, and finished goods, to operate seamlessly and not to miss possible business opportunities. But inventory is costly, and the optimal firm inventory differs depending on various economic conditions, including trade and transport costs. The paper examines firm inventory behavior in East Africa, in which transport connectivity, especially to the ports, is considered as one of the major business constraints. Using firm-level data from Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda, it is shown that transport connectivity significantly affects firm inventory behavior. In particular, road density and transport costs to the port are important to determine the optimal inventory level. With more roads in a city and/or cheaper access to the port, firms would hold smaller inventories.

In less than fifty years, Brazil evolved from a predominantly rural society and economy to a highly urbanized country in which 85 percent of its people now live in urban areas and more than 90 percent of the country’s GDP is generated in the cities. This rapid urbanization process was characterized by a lack of planning and an enduring framework of inequality, resulting in high degrees of concentrated poverty in the urban areas. Much of this urbanization has taken place in metropolitan regions (MRs). MRs have grown more rapidly than the rest of the country, both in population and in GDP terms. In 2010, per capita GDP was higher in MRs than in the rest of the country and metropolitan economies accounted for 70 percent of GDP. At the same time, half of the Brazilian poor and 90 percent of the people living in subnormal conditions were found in metropolitan regions. The recent approval of a new framework for metropolitan governance inBrazil creates the opportunity for debate and evolution regarding several key issues. These include: a) placing metropolitan matters at the forefront of the development arena in Brazil; b) reviewing what has been learned about inter-municipal governance and service delivery; c) estimating resource mobilization needs for metropolitan development; d) coordinating metropolitan land use with transport and housing; e) including metropolitan concerns in any revision of fiscal federalism; and f) promoting environmental sustainability, social inclusion and resilience to disasters and climate change plans at the metropolitan scale. The World Bank can be a partner in addressing these issues. In responding to client demand, the Bank has been providing a range of support to Brazilian states and cities and especially their low- income populations in the areas of infrastructure, social services, slum upgrading, institutional development, river basin management, local economic development, environmental protection, water and sanitation, and transportation.

In Zimbabwe trade has been a driver of economic growth, rising incomes, and progressive empowerment of Zimbabweans through rising standards of living and the promise of better jobs. Since 1980, through good years and bad years, increases in exports have been positively associated with increases in national income. Zimbabwe's location and resource base, together with a low-cost but relatively well educated labor force, have endowed it with a naturally high trade ratio built on a diversified base that facilitates using trade as an engine of growth. While trade volumes have rebounded smartly from the deep recession of 2007-2008, these do not offset other worrisome longer-term trends: 1) export growth during the last decade has been lackluster and failed to drive high growth; 2) agricultural exports, other than tobacco, have lost their once dominant role in the region, and are no longer a source of diversification; 3) manufacturing has withered in a continuing secular decline; and 4) Zimbabwe's export basket has become less diversified and more dependent on a narrow range of mineral and, to a lesser extent, agricultural products. In short, exports have become less diversified, less-technologically sophisticated, and less labor-intensive, and ever more dependent on a few large mining activities to provide foreign exchange and employment. This report traces the roots of this poor performance to several policy issues: poor predictability of macroeconomic policy and economic governance has created an unfavorable climate for private investment and trade; a tariff structure that dampens export profitability; industrial policies (indigenization policy in particular) that undermine investor confidence and inhibits private investment; and finally, competition-limiting policies toward services that limit connectivity of Zimbabweans and raise trade costs. The good news arising from the study is that the remedies for these policy shortcomings lie in Zimbabwean hands. If the government were to adopt reforms that reconfigure economy-wide incentives and trade and industrial policies, it could promote sustained growth, economic diversification and empowerment of poor people.

This report, supported by the energy sector management assistance program (ESMAP), applies the tool for the rapid assessment of city energy (TRACE) to examine energy use in León, México. This study is one of three requested and conducted in 2013 by the World Bank Latin America and the Caribbean energy unit to begin a dialogue on energy efficiency (EE) potential in Latin America and Caribbean cities. In Puebla and León, TRACE helped the Mexican Secretary of Energy (SENER) develop an urban EE strategy. TRACE is a simple, practical tool for making rapid assessments of municipal energy use. It helps prioritize sectors that have the potential to save significant amounts of energy and identifies appropriate EE measures in six sectors - transport, municipal buildings, wastewater, streetlights, solid waste, and power and heat. Globally, the six are often managed by the cities which have substantial influence over public utility services. The study looked at six areas to determine the three that have the greatest savings potential and where the city has a significant degree of control: streetlights, solid waste, and municipal buildings.

With most of the global population and capital goods concentrated in urban areas, cities are key to social development and economic prosperity. They are drivers of national economic growth and innovation, and act as cultural and creative centers. Many development partners and other organizations are active on the topic of resilience in cities, and there has been a recent upswing in the development and promotion of innovate programs, tools, and initiatives. Arup International and the Rockefeller Foundation have developed the city resilience framework, which provides a lens through which the complexity of cities and the numerous factors that contribute to a city’s resilience can be understood. The framework is being used to facilitate agenda-setting sessions in cities selected to participate in the 100 resilient cities challenge. Within this global context, the city strength diagnostic was developed to help World Bank staff apply this new holistic approach to urban resilience to operations. It was designed to help facilitate a dialogue among stakeholders (for example, government, civil society, residents, and the private sector) about risks, resilience, and the performance of urban systems. The city strength diagnostic results in the identification of priority actions and investments that will enhance the city’s resilience as well as increase the resilience building potential of planned or aspirational projects. It stresses a holistic and integrated approach that encourages cross-sectoral collaborations to more efficiently tackle existing issues and to unlock opportunities within the city.

The Government of Benin has requested an update of the 2005 Diagnostic Trade Integration Study and has asked the World Bank to take the leading role in this exercise. The update’s objectives are to (a) take stock of progress in the mainstreaming of trade in the government’s national development strategy and of implementation of the Action Matrix recommendations; (b) complement and deepen the analysis in selected areas; and (c) revise and update the Action Matrix to take account of the evolving context since 2006. The aim of the analysis is to assist the Government of Benin in defining an overall competitiveness strategy for inclusive, job-creating export-led growth in accordance with the key priorities identified in the 2013 Plan Stratégique de Développement du Commerce (PSDC), and to further mainstream trade into the general policy orientation defined by Benin’s key policy documents, including the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (GPRSP) update. The DTIS Update (DTISU) offers a diagnosis, analytical framework and action plan, giving trade expansion a key role in the reduction of poverty and vulnerability. As mandated by the Paris Principles, the DTISU’s approach is strongly aligned with the MICPME’s PSDC (Trade Development Strategy Plan, henceforth TDSP) and draws also from the diagnosis in the Government of Benin’s recent poverty assessment (INSAE 2014) as well as the 2011 update of the GPRSP. It emphasizes the linkages between poverty, jobs, and trade with two key objectives: (i) reducing poverty through trade-led growth, and (ii) reducing vulnerability.